Edo 2020: Why Obaseki May Defeat Ize-Iyamu In Edo Governorship Poll – Momoh

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Tony Momoh has declared that he won’t be surprised if Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerges winner of the 2020 Edo Governorship election.

He noted that the PDP has a very strong presence in Edo and the power of incumbency might also come into play during Saturday’s election.

Prince Momoh added that while as a loyal party man, he wants APC to win, he understands that there is a lot of work to be done.

He noted that despite how strong PDP seems in the state, the APC candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu is a strong grass root politician who also enjoys a strong fan base in the state.

Momoh, a former Minister of Information and former National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), made his views known during an interview with INDEPENDENT.

He said: “I won’t be surprised if any of the party wins. If INEC declares Obaseki the winner I won’t be shocked because both candidates are solid on the ground. You cannot say that Obaseki is not solid on the ground”.

“He is very solid and also Ize-Iyamu cannot be written off too. He is also very solid ground. So, we have to wait until after the election to know the winner. The only thing I’m praying for is that there should be no violence.

“Initially, I said APC will overrun Edo state; that was before Ize-Iyamu joined us. When he joined us I said with his exit from PDP, it will be a total victory for APC and total elimination for PDP. Then, we had a problem and Obaseki left and joined PDP.

“Then I said with Obaseki joining PDP, there will be a problem for APC because he won’t go alone. He will move his structures out of APC to PDP. Some people criticized me when I said so but we all saw what happened.

“I also said Edo governorship election will no longer be a tea party for APC. It will be a very tough battle. APC must work hard if they will defeat PDP. I said so having looked at the situation on ground. PDP have two senators, APC has only one. Out of the nine House of Reps members, APC has three, the rest are in PDP”.

In the presidential election, APC has 46 percent, PDP has 54. So, I don’t write off anybody at all. We must work very hard but my own consolation has been and still the fact that Ize-Iyamu is a grassroots politician in Edo state.

“Everybody knows him in Edo and he has massive support at the grassroots level. But Obaseki is the incumbent and he has a lot of supports among the institutions such as traders, teachers, pensioners who have all come out to say that they have endorsed him. These organized bodies are not people you just dismiss like that.”

Naija News reports that the Edo governorship election is scheduled for Saturday, 20th September 2020 and both the APC and the PDP are fronline parties in the polls.